These changes, however, have been in production for months, Al’s Pals Coordinator Star Bloom said.
“You have to have a long-term plan and process. We started back, probably, in February deciding what our goals were, because we have a student here for every grade and every site,” ?Bloom said.
The Al’s Pals team will also be returning to Northington Elementary School and McKenzie Court Community Center.
Other significant modifications have been made within the actual curriculum taught to students through the help of mentors, said Anna Margaret Yarbrough, a graduate assistant ?at Al’s Pals.
“We have revamped the curriculum to be theme-based and project-based learning,” Yarbrough said. “We’re starting with ancient civilizations, so our theme would be ancient Greek culture. And so the enrichment activities, the math, the science and the reading are all going to be part of that theme. Students can really learn and just take that theme and apply it to different subjects.”
To start the year, the Al’s Pals team geared up for the McKenzie Court Community Center Back to School Carnival. The kickoff served both an educational and entertainment purpose for local students and community ?members alike.
“We had just a lot of games and a lot of activities for the kids to do, and we kind of did some learning with it too,” Danielle Cassady, a sophomore student leader for Al’s Pals, said.
With the expansion of the program, Bloom says they are always looking for new recruits, and students should keep an eye out for Al’s Pals at Get on Board Day. As of now, the program boasts about 46 student leaders who are selected by an interview process in the spring. The program also has more than 100 ?mentors and continues to grow, ?Bloom said.
Sarah Beth Kimbrell is a junior student leader in the program and described her experience with the ?program and its expansion.
“It gives me a new opportunity to meet new kids and know that I’ve impacted those kids at the other site for two years,” Kimbrell said. “Now I have a chance to expand that impact to other kids in Tuscaloosa County. I feel like the returning mentors who were at that site and moving on feel that as well. We signed up to mentor kids, and we get to expand that all through the county. It’s not just Tuscaloosa City Schools anymore, we’re also in county schools now.”
